Power Corrupts

There are times in a WWE Superstar's career when the only way to ensure winning a championship or to assert your dominance is to ally yourself with sworn enemies. This is exactly what happened in April 2001, when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin shocked the world and teamed up with Triple H, the Superstar who almost ended his career. One of the most dominant tag teams of all time, The Two-Man Power Trip of Austin & The Game climbs to No. 5 on WWE.com's list of Heated Pursuits in WWE History.

It began at WrestleMania X-Seven, when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin battled The Rock for the WWE Championship. With both Superstars at the height of their popularity, the WWE Universe's support was divided -- until the shocking end of the match. Moments before The Great One was ready to finish Austin; Mr. McMahon interfered and helped The Texas Rattlesnake reclaim the WWE Championship. The WWE Universe was stunned as "Stone Cold" had now allied himself with his greatest arch-nemesis.

In a rematch on Raw the following night, The Rock and Austin battled inside a steel cage when Triple H entered the confines with a sledgehammer. The Game had run down Austin with a car in November 1999, putting him out of action for much of 2000, and it appeared he was ready to put The Texas Rattlesnake down once more. Amazingly, though, the proverbial hatchet was buried in The Rock's skull instead. With Austin & Triple H working together with Mr. McMahon's support, The Two-Man Power Trip was born.

Stone Cold & Triple H still weren't necessarily friends -- they even admitted as such to each other -- yet they were both obsessed with being on top of WWE together. On the same week Austin won the WWE Championship, The Game defeated Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Title. Then, The Two-Man Power Trip set their sights on capturing more WWE gold. Emboldened, they targeted the seemingly unstoppable World Tag Team Champions - The Brothers of Destruction, Kane & Undertaker.

The two teams met at Backlash in a match where The Deadman & Kane also had the opportunity to claim the WWE or Intercontinental Titles if one of them pinned either Austin or Triple H, respectively. In a grueling battle, it looked like The Two-Man Power Trip would fail to come out on top, but The Game used his trusty sledgehammer to take out The Big Red Monster and win the World Tag Team Titles. In the space of one month, The Two-Man Power Trip emerged as one of the most dominant alliances in WWE history, simultaneously holding every major championship in the organization.

Although Austin accidentally cost Triple H the Intercontinental Title at Judgment Day, the pair would remain united, at least for another night. On Raw the following evening, The Two-Man Power Trip defended their World Tag Team Titles, until The Game suffered a career-threatening quadriceps injury and accidentally hit Austin with a sledgehammer, costing them the titles.

With Triple H out of action, "Stone Cold" wanted nothing more to do with The Cerebral Assassin. The once-dominant partnership came to an end, and the two Superstars never really saw eye-to-eye afterward. Nevertheless, there is no denying that, for a brief time, The Two-Man Power Trip was the most dominant tandem in the history of WWE.